


Run Away

by cana_merula



Series: Sing To Me Instead [works inspired by songs by Ben Platt] [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, It's a love story, Love Confessions, M/M, Nanny and brother Francis are good parents, Nanny and brother Francis come to Warlock's wedding, Weddings, inspired by a song, nightmares and bedtime stories, no reference to the gender of his sprouse, your head canon is valid here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cana_merula/pseuds/cana_merula
Summary: When Warlock Dowling had nightmares, his Nanny told him stories and held him until he fell asleep again. There was one story in particular, that seemed true to him. It was a love story, the greatest love story he ever heard, because it felt so real.Years later, somewhere in England, Warlock's spouse has a nightmare the night before their wedding. So he tells them the same story, because he won't run away.[Can be read alone.]
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Nanny Ashtoreth & Warlock Dowling, Nanny Ashtoreth/Brother Francis (Good Omens), Warlock Dowling/his spouse
Series: Sing To Me Instead [works inspired by songs by Ben Platt] [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726789
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Run Away

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody!  
> Like the other works in this series this fic is inspired by a song from Ben Platt's album "Sing To Me Instead". The titel also comes from the song, so if you want to, you can listen to "Run away" while reading this.  
> English is not my first language, so if there are any erros, please tell me.  
> And now: Have fun reading!

„Nanny, can you tell me a true story today?“, Warlock asked after his nanny tucked him into bed and she sat down beside him. He didn’t wanted to go to bed just yet, the nightmare from the night before still fresh on his mind.  
„A true story, my little hellspawn? About what?“  
„Were you ever in love? Like the prince in the story yesterday?“  
Nanny couldn’t really hide her smile at that question, not in front of Warlock. Even though he was the future Antichrist he was still so innocent sometimes, so human.  
„Yes“, she answered simply and pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. Maybe she knew why he didn’t want to go to sleep.  
„Can you tell me about them? The one you love? Please?“  
„Pleasssse is a nice word, we don’t ssssay nice wordsss“, she hissed, but noded anyway and settled down to spin a story with maybe a little bit of truth in it.

„They met at work in a garden long ago. It was a beautiful day, because all the days had been beautiful back then. It started with a conversation, and for quite some time it was nothing else than that. They just talked to each other and got to know the other one better. And then they went out for some drinks and they made plans to meet up regularly and work together, even though their bosses didn’t want them to. They spent a lot of time with each other – many, many years – and grew close. They became best friends and then even more.  
He wrote her poems, but didn’t let her see them, hiding them between his books. She still knew, because she knew him better than anybody else and she was sure she loved him, and he loved her. He just needed some more time to sort his feelings out and admit them to himself. She just went to fast for him, but that was okay, because she would wait for him, no matter how long it would take him to get there. She knew they would be together, she only wondered when.“

Nanny smiled fondly at the memory of him back then. Waiting for him really wasn’t that bad – he was still her best friend and cared about her deeply, even before he figured out his feelings. The poems were evident of that. She – well, back then it was he – found them by accident and they were cute and quite romantic. But after he figured out what he was really feeling for his best friend, their lives got so much better.

„One, night, before they went to bed, he kneeled on both knees and this is what he said:  
»I may not be wise and it took me some time to realize how much I love you, and I won’t save the day like you did in that church not long ago. But look in my eyes and know I'll always stay, and I won’t run away. I will always stay, even if Heaven and Hell will try to keep us apart. I will find a way to stay with you.«  
So she told him, that she loves him and that she will also always stay at his side. If they would ever run away, they would do so together.

Some years went by and they got a child. He wasn’t theirs in blood, but they both raised him together and they cared about him very much, as much as if they were his real parents. He was funny, strange and sometimes even weird, but also mild. Their love for him ran deep and they would do everything in their power to protect him. She would bring him to school and then he would spend the afternoon with him in the garden and in the evening she would tell him stories like this one. Some nights he got nightmares and his dreams were driving him wild. He had a vivid imagination and he dreamt mostly about losing everybody, his parents and also them. So she would wake him up and calm him down and then get in the bed beside him and pet his hair until he fell asleep again.“

Warlock didn’t really saw his parents that often. His dad was always away and while his mom was at home, she had a lot on her plate most of the times: charities, yoga classes, shopping with her friends. Sometimes he was afraid to lose them, that they wouldn't want to be his parents anymore, that they wouldn’t care. And then there were Nanny and Brother Francis and while they were always there, he knew they wouldn’t stay forever. In a few years he would be too old for a nanny, and then she would leave and the gardener would leave with her. It was one of his biggest fears and when he had a nightmare, it was often about being abandoned. Like in the one he had yesterday. She had held him for quite some time, telling him a story about a prince who meets another boy until he fell asleep again.

„One night, the day after a nightmare that was especially bad, he didn’t even want to try to go to sleep. So she kneeled on both knees and this is what she said:  
»I may not be wise and I don’t have the answer to all the questions you ask me. And I won’t save the day, not always, because there are some things that are out of my hands and that you will have to do on your own. But look in my eyes and know I'll always stay and I won’t run away.«  
And he smiled and went to bed and slept peacefully, because he know she was watching over him.“

Nanny paused for a moment and not for the first time Warlock wished to see her eyes behind the ever-present sunglasses. 

„Do you think you can sleep now, my little dark boy?“  
Warlock nodded, his eyes suddenly heavy. Maybe he was more tired than he realized. She reached out to pet his hair and it felt really nice. He was out of it only seconds later. And if his nanny stayed by his bedside to watch over him until the sun rose, nobody will know. Nobody but him, who opened the door a little bit later in the evening, smiled at her and the child with love in his eyes and then left again.

~ years later, somewhere in England ~

This should have been the greatest day in Warlock’s life but now he is sitting in front of the door of a hotel room, nearly crying. The person he loves the most in the world is behind that door. The person who had a terrible dream last night and is now afraid of getting married. That’s not how he imagined his wedding day. So he sits there and tries to show how deep his love his, but it’s hard, because he never were as good with words as Brother Francis. Thinking about him and Nanny made him remember that one story she told him when he was little, the one that always seemed true to him. It was a love story, the greatest love story he ever heard, because it felt so real. He figures that is as good a start as anything for his sincere love confession. He leans his forehead against the door and closes his eyes and says:  
„Can I tell you a story?“

There is a muted answer that sounds like a „yes“, so he decides to start. And he tells the story Nanny told him all those years ago and then he begins a new story. They story of how they met, of their first dates and of everything special they did with each other and for each other in their relationship.  
„You say you’re safer on your own, that you wouldn’t get hurt that way. You'd rather sleep alone in the nights you have nightmares like this one, than grow to need me there to comfort you. But I hope now you can see, what my mom and dad showed me: I'm not going anywhere.“

And Warlock did think of Nanny and Brother Francis as his parents, because even now, years later, they are still there. They didn’t leave him, like his real parents did when they found out who he wanted to marry. They will be sitting in the front row at the ceremony, looking a little bit different as he remembers them from his childhood, but still there. He knew they would always come for him if he asked them to.  
He puts a hand against the door and tries to put all his feelings in his next words.

„I love you more and more each day, every day we spend together is a blessing for me. To love, for me at least, is not to leave. So hear me when I say:  
I may not be wise like my dad and I won't save the day like my mom, but look in my eyes and know I'll always stay and I won't run away. I won't run away, I promise you. I will promise you that again in the church if you still want to marry me and I will promise it every day for the rest of our lifes.“

He hears someone crying behind the closed doors and footsteps coming down the hallway. There were his parents, dressed in their best clothes and hand in hand. Nanny reached out for him with her free hand as they got near enough and pulled him to his feet.  
„Let Angel handle this, my darling“, she says softly and he lets himself be lead down the hallway and into his own hotel room.

Brother Francis sits down in a chair that mysteriously appeared in front of the closed door.  
„Hello, my dear, it’s me. The others are gone now, but Warlock is just down the hall, I can get him as soon as you want to speak with him. I just wanted to talk to xou for a bit, because I think I know how you feel, both because I have felt the same way and because my lover has felt the same way. I want to help you understand this feeling, if that’s okay with you.“  
Behind the door he hears a soft affirmation.

„I fell in love with her slowly, because I was afraid to be hurt and I didn’t even realized it. And then, for quite some time, I didn’t wanted to admit that I loved her, because then it would hurt even more when she would leave me. So we spend years in which we were together but didn’t called it that, until I realized something very important one day: I love her more than anything else and I didn’t want to spend one more day without her. It felt like I was running my whole life, I was running away from home, from my job, from everything that everyone else expected from me. And she was also running and for some time I thought she was going too fast for me. Surely she would figure herself and her place in this world out faster than I would and then she leave me behind.  
But she showed me time and time again that I had nothing to fear. She would wait for me, no matter how long it would take me to get there and then we would run together, but she would never run away from me. She would always be by my side.  
We know Warlock his whole life and I never saw him more happy than at your side. He won’t run away. And it’s okay, if he goes to fast for you. He will wait for you. So whatever you decide – if you want to marry him today, or in ten years or even never – as long as you want him, he will stay.“

The sounds of crying from behind the door had died down while he was talking and for a moment there was only silence around them.  
„Thank you. I knew he wouldn’t leave me, it’s just my dreams … sometimes I panic and then...“  
„It’s okay, you don’t need to explain yourself. Just calm down and decide what you want.“

~•~

The wedding is beautiful. They both smile a lot and there are tears in their eyes as they promise each other not to run away, the panic from the morning long forgotten, because their love will get them through everything. 

And if a demon is crying behind her sunglasses nobody but the angel holding her hand and god herself will ever know.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
